The Love delusion*
by zoss in fal7asaLove has a lot in common with Faith.
According to a certain worldview, Faith is not real –in the physical sense– except so far as certain chemicals and certain connections exist in one’s brain. Deities do not exist, because they are not observable.
Somewhat related is the claim that faith is not rational, in the sense that there are no irrefutable logical arguments for believing in said non-observable deities.
You could argue the same for Love — chemicals, for sure, as you might have seen in one scientific report or another. As well, and I don’t think I need to elaborate, Love is not very rational.
More to the point, unspeakable acts (as well as great acts of sacrifice and generosity) have been committed in both their names.
How come, then, we don’t hear battle cries, from people upholding the aforementioned worldview, calling for the abolishment of Love?
(*I would say this is inspired by Rebecca Goldstein’s reading at this meeting, but inspiration is probably a weaker and more indirect link than actually is.)
Comment by Maxxed`ouT — 4/4/2008 @ 0:08
I had to read and re-read this post.
I loved your insight, yet i don’t have an answer to your question…
Comment by zoss — 4/4/2008 @ 4:33
I’ve had to word and reword it–making it as concise as I could–perhaps rendering it too dense. (?) Thanks anyway for investing the time to read and reflect.
(I have to reiterate that this “insight” was but an extrapolation of Goldstein’s.)